In this installment of the Civic Education Series, we look at the impact of standardized testing on social studies and civics curriculum. How Did We Get Here? (or, “Yay, History!”) The first half of the 20th century saw several major education “reform” efforts. The federal government inserted itself several times with major legislation, including Eisenhower’s […]
School Improvement
The New Teacher Bootcamp: Who Do You Listen to In the Building?
Being a new teacher is hard. You have to plan lessons, call parents, grade assignments, discipline students and somehow live your own life all within a 24 hour time frame. In the midst of all of your duties and responsibilities as a teacher it is routine practice that you have a team of people in the […]
Data-Driven Politics
One of the driving forces behind the advancement of bubble-test tyranny in our school systems today is the concept of data-driven decision-making. Back before we tested every student in every subject on almost every day of the year, cigar-chomping school administrators just pulled decisions out of their backsides and hoped they worked. They threw the […]
The Educational Reformer's Orthodoxy
Joel Klein’s veracity was challenged–shredded might be a better word–in a recent article in The American Prospect. The best line in the piece was “Klein didn’t overcome demographic odds; he fulfilled them.” The powerful, eviscerating truth of this simple line erases every last vestige of credibility The Legend of Klein ever had. Michelle Rhee’s breathless […]
Procedures versus Concepts: A Mathematical Dilemma
There have been a lot of articles lately debating procedural teaching and concepts-based teaching in the classroom. As an elementary school teacher, this topic is of particular interest as mathematical reform models are sweeping through our curriculum. Whether you are a Common Core Standards state or, as in Virginia, simply “aligned” with Common Core, mathematical […]
Contextual Accountability
Every school is a microcosm of the community it serves—that is, every school that serves any and all students in the neighborhood. Peaceful schools are nestled in peaceful environs. If there are drugs or violence in the streets, educators will contend with drugs and violence working their way into the school like crickets through unseen […]
The Pundit's Miseducation
If you want to find evidence that American schools are failing, your best bet is to look closely at the tortured logic and disingenuous argumentation issuing from today’s education reform movement. If these people were educated in American public schools, then it’s clear: we failed (miserably) to produce measured, ethical reasoners who rightly wield the […]